Ohio governor’s race takes ugly turn with viral video featuring Acton’s mother

A new viral video targeting Amy Acton is roiling the increasingly ugly Ohio governor’s race, where the Democrat is running against GOP nominee Vivek Ramaswamy.

The clip features Acton’s estranged mother, Donna Arthur, calling the Democrat “a liar” and urging Ohioans to vote against her. It’s unclear who is behind the 60-second spot, which did not appear to have aired on television as of Tuesday afternoon.

The video is contentious because of the background between Acton and her mother, whom Acton said she has not seen since she was 12 years old.

Acton, a physician and former director of the Ohio Department of Health, described in a 2019 interview with The Vindicator an unstable childhood troubled by abuse, neglect and homelessness. She recounted abuse at the hands of her stepfather, which culminated in criminal charges and led to Acton’s break with her mother.

An Associated Press review of court records indicates the late Cledith Arthur, the husband of Donna Arthur, was arrested and charged in July 1978 with raping Acton, then aged 12. Acton’s biological father reported the abuse, which allegedly happened from 1976 to 1978, to authorities. Cledith Arthur pleaded not guilty and was indicted by a grand jury in September 1978 and, after no-showing a court hearing, was a fugitive until at least 1981.

In the new video, Donna Arthur does not directly mention Acton’s account of abuse — nor does she name Ramaswamy — but she broadly casts the Democrat as a liar and pushes back on Acton’s account of living in a tent at one point while growing up.

Acton told WOSU on Tuesday her mother was “eventually arrested, the court documents show, from the tent” and that she has not seen her mother since a court appearance when she was 12.

“It’s awful to see this. It’s awful to see her this way, and it’s even more incredible to see that my opponent has taken advantage of someone who is clearly not well,” Acton said.

It is unclear who produced the video. It appears to have been first reported by The Rooster , an Ohio-based political blog that indicated Ramaswamy had snapped up Donna Arthur’s endorsement, but it noted Ramaswamy had not responded to an email seeking comment. The video also does not include the typical disclaimer about who paid for it.

Ramaswamy’s team did not respond to questions about whether the campaign was responsible for the ad or whether Donna Arthur was paid to participate.

“We don’t know what happened between Amy and her mother, who first spoke out about Amy in 2020, but we know that Amy Acton is a serial fabulist who has some serious problems with the truth that the public needs to be aware of before deciding who to entrust as governor,” Ramaswamy campaign spokesperson Connie Luck said in a statement.

Acton’s brother Philip Stearns slammed the Republican for “a despicable low.”

He said it was an “attempt to turn the sexual abuse Amy endured at twelve years old from our birth mother’s husband into a political talking point” and noted he and his sister were removed from the custody of Donna Arthur.

Stearns also said their mother remained married to Cledith Arthur until he died in 2004, despite the allegations against him.

Some Democrats and Republicans argued the ad went too far and warned of backlash.

Rep. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio) called the ad “one of the most despicable things I’ve ever seen in politics,” while conservative pundit Meghan McCain said the “dastardly” video “never should have been created.”

The Democratic Governors Association said Ramaswamy “should be ashamed of himself.”

Among those circulating the video were Donald Trump Jr., who told Ohioans in a post on the social platform X to “watch this and think about what it means,” and far-right activist Laura Loomer, who wrote that she’s “on the side of Amy’s mother.”

Sherrod Brown, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Ohio, called the video “disgusting” and urged his opponent, Sen. Jon Husted (R), to condemn it.

Ohio Democratic strategist Jeff Rusnak was confident the new anti-Acton video will backfire on Republicans in the election’s home stretch.

“I think the campaign is obviously really desperate. I think they’re reading the poll numbers like everybody else,” Rusnak said. “They’re running a scorched-earth campaign because that’s the only thing they think they can do.”

Acton is now 3.5 points ahead of Ramaswamy in Decision Desk HQ’s polling average of the race to replace outgoing Gov. Mike DeWine (R) for the seat Republicans have held since 2010. Cook Political Report rates it a toss-up.

“Regardless of his responsibility with it, I think most folks will associate him with the attack,” Robert Alexander, a political science professor at Bowling Green State University (BGSU) in Ohio, said of Ramaswamy.

“With independents and those who are thinking maybe third party or uncertain, [this] probably doesn’t help him. I think with Democrats that maybe were on the fence, they will be all in as a result of this,” he said.

Alexander noted that Acton is one of the few political figures in the state without a “deeply negative view” among voters. In the latest BGSU poll, Ramaswamy had a net favorability of negative 11 points, while Acton was at negative 1.

The new ad could make her more sympathetic to voters, some said.

Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur and billionaire who ran for president in 2024, boasts prime endorsements from DeWine, President Trump and Vice President Vance, but he’s a controversial candidate, known for politically risky moves in the last White House race.

Acton’s campaign has painted Ramaswamy as an out-of-touch billionaire, while Republican groups have accused Acton of being an alcoholic and drug addict, claims she’s rebutted as “horrible.”

There is currently no scheduled debate for the race, though Ramaswamy’s camp has continued to call for one. Acton has refused to debate, which her campaign has said would be akin to “platforming a scam artist.”